The Canucks were better then I expected last night and the Oilers were worse. The game was basically a saw off, despite the fact that the Oilers core players have been playing competitive hockey for months while the Canucks group has played 1 competitive game in the past 7 months. That is a bad sign for the Oilers who appear to be looking at another long season.

-Biggest positive from the game was the play of Kassian. Looked like the player he was projected to be which is very nice to see. Had a number of good chance, scored a goal, was involved physically, and won a fight against a very tough opponent. Obviously he cant play like that every night but if he can do it more often then not, he's a huge asset and well worth the price we paid.

-Biggest disappointment had to be the Bieksa / Hamhus pairing who have looked terrible in their own zone in both games. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise given the fact neither player did much during the lock out. Makes you wonder why more Canuck players didn't spend some time in Europe during the break.

-The guy who did play in Europe (Weiss) played 2 of his best NHL games.

-The Twins may not have been on the ice much during the lock out, but unlike their team mates you can hardly tell.

-I have liked the steady play of Jason Garrison, but I don't like the fact he's pushed Alex Edler to the right side. Edler has never looked comfortable playing there and last night was no exception. I'm not sure what the solution is so I hope Alex can make incremental progress through out the season.

-Keith Ballard just isn't a very good hockey player. He has been regressing at a steady pace since signing his big contract and it simply makes no sense to keep him past this season.

-Luckily Ballard has an excellent partner in Chris Tanev, who looks to have made another step this year.

-Mason Raymond on the other hand looks pretty much exactly like he did last year. I was expecting a big push from Raymond early but so far it just looks like more of the same.

I didn't pay attention to much of the Anaheim game, and only caught the first two periods of last night's game.

What I saw:
- Kassian looked very good last night, too bad I missed his fight.
- Ballard looked very bad. That trade has turned into a total flop. Hopefully Keith can be traded for a 7th round pick.
- Luongo was good, except for the two goals. He was cheating big time on the Eberle shot and the Hemsky shot went right through him.
- Ebbett was invisible. Him in the top 6 can't go on much longer. I don't want to be rude, but he sucks. Call up Schroeder please.
- The Sedins were great. Like Pot said, they don't have any rust at all.
- Lapierre doesn't look like a top 9 NHL player. Manny Malhotra's eye injury really screwed the Canucks out of a very good third line center situation.
- Dale Weise almost injured himself twice. D'oh...but despite that he looked pretty good.

Not really a surprise that the guys who have been playing lots (Kassian, Tanev, Weise) look good and guys who have not do not.

Didn't Chris Higgins used to play center in Montreal? I swear he used to play center.

I would have like to see the twins and Kassian go against Eager's line when that fight happened late in the 3rd, but I did enjoy the shit out of that fight.

The crowd was as loud as its been in these two games after Kassian got some good shots in on Eager and pumped his fist in the air.

Other than fucking up the face of a noted NHL tough guy, albeit one with laughable sense, it pretty much tells the rest of the conference that the Canucks have a forward who can play on the top two lines and answer the bell with the opposition's toughest player.

As he continues to develop, Kassian's linemates will begin to get more and more room on the ice. This bodes well for the Sedins as they get older.

Potatoe1 wrote:
-Keith Ballard just isn't a very good hockey player. He has been regressing at a steady pace since signing his big contract and it simply makes no sense to keep him past this season.

^This^
He has looked like crap in the past yes but yesterday was a whole new level of crap. He is a huge hole in our lineup now and needs to be replaced ASAP IMHO.

I know it's early and he's supposed to get some games in before we judge but in all honesty he has never really played much better than this for us, with a few exceptions of course.

Surely there's a team out there who needs a project and can eat that albatross of a contract...surely? (dont call me surely)

Kassian with by far his best game as a Canuck. He was involved everywhere(didn't kick in his goal!), hitting on that line makes such a huge difference for the twins and popped that retard Eager. What's not to like!

Agree with everyone that Hammer and Juice need to wake up quick. They look brutal in their own zone.

Edler looked like he's on a mission to earn that big contract, albeit with a few hiccups due to rust I would guess.

The young coilers looked timid and overwhelmed by the NHL. If Luongo stops those 2 weak goals then they probably get shut out.

Uncle dans leg wrote:
The young coilers looked timid and overwhelmed by the NHL. If Luongo stops those 2 weak goals then they probably get shut out.

I don't know if I'd call them weak. He could have had both yes, but they weren't awful. Especially Eberle's. I mean, that was just a sweet backhand - great goal. Luo's probably more guilty on the Hemsky goal but overall he was just fine.

There's some definite rust on this team - not surprising in the slightest. I think we're all on the same page that this will be quite a challenging year for the Canucks with the slew of injuries and rust factor. I don't expect much from them in the regular season but hopefully they can sustain a sufficiently competitive level of play to carry forward into the playoffs. I think they'll place anywhere from 3 - 6th in the division in this shortened year.

I suspect that as long as he's in charge, Edmonton is going to be the last NHL stop for quite a few players (unless they end up on the Canucks fourth defense pairing for half a season before they go)..